Can opener with squeeze-type actuating handle



F. BROWN Feb. 16, 1960 CAN OPENER WITH SQUEEZE-TYPE ACTUATING HANDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 24, 1959 INVENTOH Feb. 16, F. BROWN I CAN OPENER WITH sQuEEzE-TYPE ACTUATING HANDLE Filed Feb. 24, 1959 sheets-sheet 2 |NVENTOR Uni CAN OPENER WITH SQUEEZE-TYPE ACTUATING HANDLE i Frank Brown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application February 24, 1959, Serial No. 794,888

` 7 claims. (c1. .ao-15.5)

portant object of my invention is to provide a can opener of this kind in which the cutting operation is carried out by squeezing -movements applied to a two-part handle supplied with a mechanism utilizing reciprocal movements of the handle members for driving the feed wheel in order to turn the can and cause the cutter to remove the can top.

A paramount object of the invention is to provide a can opener which not only is adapted to be operated by one hand but whichenables a person to open a can entirely by the use of one hand kand making it unnecessary to hold or touch thecan while the opener is being operated. My invention affords a one-handed operation in the removal of the top of a can which leaves the other hand free for use for other purposes. The invention provides a can openerparticularly suited for a person having the use of only one hand. By virtue of the novel construction and arrangement of the can opener the entire operation of cutting the top from a can and removing the severed top is carried out in a simple expeditious manner.

`A further important object of the invention is to provide a manually operable can opener which not only completely cuts the top from a can with a minimum of manual eifort but which also lifts the severed top from the can and moves it aside of the can-so that removal of contents is not obstructed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved can opener of simple and sturdy construction which is 4economical to manufacture and reliable in use.

.Having described the major objects `orf my invention subsidiary objects and advantages will appear from the ensuing specification of a selected form of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a can opener constructed in accordance with my invention;

' Fig. 2 is a top-plan view thereof showing a magnetic lifting device for the top of a can in a second position in ldotted lines; v .l Fig. 3 is a rear-end view of Fig. 1 and shows a bottle opening device on the handle of Ithe can opener as an ancillary attachment;

, Fig.` 4 is arear-perspective view of the handle depicting more clearly the construction and arrangement ofthe bottle-opening device;

' Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the can opener showing the cam lever in a second position in dash lines;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig.

. Fig.y 7 is a cross-section on line 7-7 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on line v8--8 of Fig. 1;

v Fig. 9 is a detail of a swinging and tiltable lever which carries a magnet for removal of the severed top of a can; and I dS'tates Patent `rice IFig. 10 is a perspective view of the rocker which carries the cutter.

In carrying out my invention there is provided a handle of the squeeze type made up of intertitted grip members Aincluding an upper grip member 10 and a lower grip member 11. The upper grip member has a top wall 12, side walls 13, la front-end wall 14 anda rear-end wall `15. These Walls define a chamber 16 which is open at the bot-tom of said upper grip member.

Said lower grip member has similar marginal walls, including a front-end wall 17, and defining a chamber 18 which is open at the top of said lower grip member. The lower grip member extends freely into the chamber 16 of the upper grip member for reciprocal movement. These grip members have an intertting connection as by guide devices each made up of a tubular pilot 19 and a slide pin 20. The parts 19 'and y20 are arranged in the chambers 16 and |18 and the part 19 upstands from the lower grip member and is rigid therewith. Part 20 is rigid with top Wall '12 of the upper grip member and depends therefrom and has sliding engagement in part 19. The pin has a head 21 engageable with a shoulder-forming reduction 22 on part 419 where-by abutment faces are formed which limit outward travelof the lower grip member.

A helical compression spring 23 encircles fthe parts 19 and 20 and is seated at its ends in the chambers 16 and 18 for exerting outward pressure on the lower grip mem'ber in order to yieldably press this member to a normal outward disposition, as shown in Fig. 1. According to this arrangement the two grip members of the handle may be held in the hand and compressed and released alternately thereby producing a reciprocating motion on the part of the lower grip member relative to the upper grip member and this motion is utilized to operate a serrated feed wheel 24. Desirably a bottom face of the lower grip member is supplied with finger receiving depressi-ons 25 to make a more convenient grip for the hand of the user and such longitudinal series of recesses is indicated at 25.

The feed wheel is disposed outwardly of the front endv ofthe handle and is mounted by means of a drive shaft 26 on the front-end wall 14 of the upper grip member.

The drive shaft 26 extends into the chamber 16 and carries at its inner end a ratchet wheel 27 rigid therewith and supplied with one-way teeth. The teeth of the ratchet wheel are engaged, by teeth on a rack bar 28 disposed in the chamber 18 and pivoted to the lower grip member as at 29. in mesh by means of a spring 30. Upward movement on the part of the lower grip member serves to rotate. kthe ratchet wheel in one direction and in the return movement of the lower grip member the rack bar rides over the ratchet without imparting a turning movement thereto as will be well understood in the art.

Overlying the top wall of the upper grip member is a rocker 31 pivoted intermediate of its length at 32 and` a raised position as by the bent end 36 of a flat spring.

37. The other end of the rocker indicated at 38 constitutes a cam nger.

A hand lever 39 is pivoted on the upper grip member and disposed longitudinally over the top Wall 12 thereof. Said hand lever has a cam finger 40 engaged under the cam finger 38 of the rocker for lowering the cutter into piercing engagement'with the top of lacari. 4"3l-he-l1anl The rack bar is yieldably held The latching means is shown as comprising a latch 43 pivoted at 44 on the handle and disposed within an openingL therein and having a depending latcl'iing element 45 spring-pressed as at 46 to engage a keeper 47 when the handle is in fully depressed condition as depicted in Figsxl and 5. The keeper 47 is preferably adjustable so that 1t may be set and reset if so desired should occasion arise in the use of the can opener. The keeper is in the form of a hollow screw threadably engaged in the top wall 12 of the upper grip member and provided with a reduced opening 48 which supplies an abutment face adapted to be engaged by the latching element 45.

From the foregoin-g it will be'evident that upon fully depressing the hand lever, the latch will automatically engage the keeper and thus lock the hand lever in abutment with the stop piece 42. The latch is supplied with a serrated upper face to enable it to be manually turned for disengagement in order to allow the hand lever to be raised for elevating the cutter 33.

A permanent magnet 49 is carried on the outer end of a. swmgable `and tiltable arm 50 which is pi-voted at- 51 on the rocker 31 and has an inner end supplied with a knob 52. The pivot 51 isa pin headed at its ends and somewhat loosely extending through a hole in the rocker 31 1n order that the arm -Stl may have sufficient play for tllting as wellA as for swinging to either side of the rocker as may be required in order to raise the severed top of the can and to swing it aside of the can. Finger pressure is applied on the knob 52 for this purpose. The pivot pin 51 serves to secure the spring plate 37 4under tension and this tensions the arm for yieldably holding it 1n a normal position. By exerting downward pressure on the button or knob 52 the arm Si? can be tilted to elevate the magnet. Cam-forming wings are provided on the outer end of the rocker 31 as at 53 and these wings extend upwardly and outwardly at a suitable elevation for holding the arm 50 in` tilted position with its magnet elevated when the arm is swung to one side or the other of its InormZal longitudinal position shown in solid lines in 1g. In order to swing the cutter 33 downwardly into piercmg engagementwith the top of a can pressure is exerted on the hand lever and for this purpose the two parts of the handle are graspedy by the hand of the operator and squeezed. operation that the grip members of the handle be locked so that the lower grip member will be rendered inoperative or in other words held against inward movement so that no driving effect will be communicated tothe feed wheel 24. A locking device is provided for this purpose and this comprises a button 54' having a shank 55 slidably extending to a hole in one of the sidewalls l13 ofthe vupper grip member and having a head at its inner end, indicated at 56. The button is outwardly pressed by a spring 57 encircling its shank 55 in order that its head` portion 56 will normallyreside within a lrecess 58. In'v normal retracted position the head 56- is disposed within the contines ofthe recess 58 clear of the adjacent side wallk of the lower grip member. When it is` desired to lock the lower grip member the button is depressed so as to, force lthehead 56 thereof into ablockinguposi-k tion so that it' will obstruct inward movement of this grip member as best shown in Fig. 6. Itv is only necessary to apply thumb pressure on the button and to. hold it. depressed whilel `the cutter pierces the can. lt. can then be,v released.

From.. the preceding description It is therefore necessary during this piercingit will., be manifest:

that the invention provides a novel and highly serviceable can. opener in which the feeding of the can is carried out by alternately squeezing and releasing the grip members of the handle in order that the lower grip member may be reciprocated Within the upper grip member. A person may hold the can opener in one hand and by operating it in the manner described the top of a can is cut from the can without the necessity of touching the can.

As an ancillary attachment adapted to increase the uses to which the can opener may be put there is supplied a device for opening a bottle of the beverage type having a beaded neck with a cap of the crown type. Such a bottle is indicated at 59 in Fig. l and the cap is denoted at 60. The device for removing the cap comprises a bifurcated plate 61 in which the bifurcation affords an opening to receive the neck of the bottle and to -lt between the cap 60 and the adjacent enlargement of the neck portion. This bifurcated plate is shown asA rigidly attached to the rear-end wall 15 of the upper grip member and sloped upwardly and outwardly therefrom. Co-acting with the bifurcated plate is an ejector plate 63 which upstands from the rear-end wall ofthe lower grip member and is attached thereto. The ejector plate is arranged to enter a slot 64 at the inner end of the opening in the bifurcated plate 61 and to engage under the cap when .the upper and lower grip members of the handle are squeezed whereby to exert pressurev such that the ejector plate will force the cap from the bottle in upward movement. This bottle cap remover is aconvenient tool which adds to the utility ofthe can opener.

Having described a selected embodiment of the invention it will be understood that such changes and variations may be resorted to as far as they come within the scope of the appended claims.

What l claim is:

1. A manually operable can opener comprising a handle of the squeeze type made up of interitted grip members including an upper grip member and a lower grip member, said grip members having front end walls, said lower grip member supported on said upper grip member for reciprocal movements, abutment means limiting outward travel of said lower grip member, spring means exerting outward pressure on said lower gripmember, a serrated feed wheel journalled on said front Wall of said upper grip member by a drive shaft, a ratchet mechanism on said lower grip member and utilizing reciprocal movements of said lower grip member for operating said drive shaft, a rocker pivoted on said upper grip member,y a cutter on said rocker, a hand 'lever for operating` said rocker to make the initial cut in a can, and means for rendering said lower grip member inoperative.

2. A can opener as defined in claim 1, vin which the hand lever is pivoted on the upper grip member and has a cam nger engaged under a cam fnger supplied on the rocker, and in which the hand lever is locked in depressed attitude by a latching device comprising a latch pivoted on the hand lever and resilientlypressed into positive engagement with an adjustable shoulderforming element on the upper grip member, said latch having a portion by which it may be released by manual pressure.

n 3. A can opener as defined in claim. l, in which the rocker has pivoted thereon a swingingand tiltable lever overlying the cutter and carrying a permanent magnet engageable with thetopof acan, and in which lift Wings are provided on the rocker to raise the permanent magnet as the rocker is swung to one side.

4. A manually operable can opener comprising a handle. of the `squeeze' type made up of interiitted' grip members including an upper grip member and a lower .gripmemben said grip members having front end walls, guide devices for guiding said lower gripmember-1n reciprocal movements and confining it to a parallel motion, abutment means limiting outward travel of said lower grip member, spring means exerting outward pressure on said lower grip member, a serrated feed wheel journalled on said front wall of said upper grip member by a drive shaft, a ratchet wheel rotatable with said drive shaft, a rack bar on said front end of said lower grip member and having teeth in mesh with said ratchet wheel and adapted to rotate the same in one direction coq-ncident with inward motion of said lower grip member, a longitudinally extending rocker pivotally mounted on said upper grip member and having a cutter-supporting end projecting beyond said feed wheel, a cutter on sai-d cutter-'supporting end for co-acting withsaid feed wheel, the other end of said rocker constituting a cam finger, a hand lever pivoted on said upper grip member and disposed longitudinally thereof, said hand lever having a cam finger engaged under said rocker cam finger for lowering said cutter into cutting engagement with the top of a can, and latching means for locking said hand lever in depressed condition.

5. A manually operable can opener comprising a handle of the squeeze type made up of interftted grip members including an upper grip member and a lower grip member, said upper grip member having a top wall, side walls, a front end wall and a rear end wall, said walls defining a chamber open at the bottom of said upper grip member; said lower grip member having marginal Walls defining a chamber and extending freely into said upper grip member chamber for reciprocal movements to and from said top wall of said upper grip member, guide devices in said chambers for guiding said lower grip member in reciprocal movements and confining it to a parallel motion, said guide devices including a tubular pilot rigid with one of said grip members and a slide pin therein and rigid with the other grip member, said tubular pilot and said slide pin having abutment faces which limit outward travel of said lower grip member; a helical compression spring encircling said tubular pilot and said slide pin and exerting outward pressure on said grip members, a

serrated feed wheel journalled on said front wall of said upper grip member and having a drive shaft extending into the chamber of this grip member, a ratchet wheel rotatable with lsaid shaft, a rack bar on said lower grip member and having teeth in mesh with said ratchet wheel and adapted to rotate the same in one direction c0-' incident with inward motion of said lower grip member,`

a longitudinally extending rocker pivotally mounted 0n said upper grip member and disposed to overlie said top wall thereof and having a cutter supporting end projecting beyond said feed wheel, a cutter on said cutter supporting end for 'co-acting with said feed wheel, the other end of said rocker constituting a cam finger, a hand lever pivoted on said upper grip member and disposed longitudinally over said top wall thereof, said hand lever having a cam finger engaged under said rocker cam finger for lowering said cutter into cutting engagement with the top of a can, and latching means for locking said hand lever in depressed condition.

6. The can opener of claim 5, in which the rack bar has one-way teeth and is engaged with one-way teeth on the ratchet wheel, and in which said rack bar is pivoted on the lower grip member to upstand in said chamber thereof and is spring-pressed to cause its teeth to mesh with those of the ratchet wheel.

7. The can opener of claim 5, in which the means for locking the lower grip member against reciprocal motion comprises a spring-pressed button having a shank slidably mounted in a side wall of the upper grip member and terminating in a head movable into blocking en gagement with a part of said lower grip member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,375,512 Baade May 8, 1945 2,647,307 Landry Aug. 4, 1953 2,670,015 Reynolds Feb. 23, 1954 2,819,638 Palmer Jan. 14, 1958 2,894,424 Vaughn July 14, 1959 

